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fretless A/E bass

Discussion in 'Basses [BG]' started by Juniorkimbrough, Nov 22, 2005.

  1. Nov 22, 2005 #1
    Juniorkimbrough

    Juniorkimbrough

    Mar 22, 2005
    Mississippi / Memphis, TN
    Endorsing Artist: Lakland Basses
    I have a fretted Fender A/E bass that I never play, so I have been thinking about getting it defretted. I think I would play it a lot more if it were fretless.

    Anyone here ever had one of their A/E basses defretted? Is it any different from defretting an electric bass. And how much approximately would it cost me to get this done?

    Thanks!
     
  2. Nov 22, 2005 #2
    Blackbird

    Blackbird Supporting Member

    Mar 18, 2000
    California
    I used to have a fretless A/E and I think I was as excited about it as you're about yours right now.

    Unless you can't get rid of it, I think you'd be better off selling it and getting a Godin A4 or 5.

    A repair person would charge you about $200 for a defret. A waste of money, IMO.
     
  3. Nov 23, 2005 #3
    Juniorkimbrough

    Juniorkimbrough

    Mar 22, 2005
    Mississippi / Memphis, TN
    Endorsing Artist: Lakland Basses
    That's the thing I've tried to sell it several times but never have any buyers...actually tried to sell it for pretty much half what I paid for it.
     
  4. Nov 23, 2005 #4
    craigb

    craigb G&L churnmeister Supporting Member

    Jan 27, 2000
    Spring, TX (Houston metro)
    Could you put a fretless neck on it instead of defretting it? Just another option.

    I've got a fretted HMT bass (same thing but with a hockey-stick headstock) which I really enjoy. I'm getting one of Walter Harley's new piezo buffers for it to make the piezo more useful.

    They are nice basses - I'm surprised you didn't find a taker for it.
     
  5. Nov 23, 2005 #5
    Blackbird

    Blackbird Supporting Member

    Mar 18, 2000
    California
    The only snag with the A/E basses is that they have an assimetrical neckplate, so a normal neck setup wouldn't work. You'd have to ger a blank neck and drill the holes yourself or have a guitar tech do it.